If you have a fervent rooting interest, the success of
“your” team matters. It’s hard to
explain to those who don’t follow sports (or much care) why it matters so much,
but, well, for those of us who care, it just does.

And when you cheer for a team, there’s usually nothing that brings
out our passion more than a playoff game or playoff series—especially against a
real rival.My guess is many a Maple
Leaf fan first started cheering for Toronto when they were very young and
watching on television or listening on the radio along with their Mom or Dad
while the Leafs were in a playoff battle.

The playoffs raise the blood pressure, for sure. And is there anything like overtime hockey?So much hinges on a single goal—which can
turn the momentum in a series in a hurry. (Look at Game 4 of the Chicago-St.
Louis series right now; if St. Louis had won Game 4 in overtime, you have to
believe they’d be in great shape.Right
now, the series is even and up for grabs.) My sense is most Leaf fans can rhyme
off the outcome of just about every overtime playoff game the Leafs have been
involved in since they started following the blue and white. Heck, I’m probably not alone in still being
upset at how the 2002 and 2004 playoffs ended for the Leafs- with overtime losses in Game 6.

That said, my focus on the latest Vintage Leaf Memories
podcast is a happy overtime playoff memory.It
takes me back to the early 1970s, a game that the Leafs played against the best
team in hockey at the time—the Boston Bruins of Bobby Orr (above right), Phil Esposito, Derek
Sanderson and Johnny Bucyk. I don’t want to give away the ending, but to say I
was startled by the outcome of the particular game that I harken back to during
the program is an understatement.

The Leafs were in over their heads against the talented and
tough Bruins, but they played their hearts out in that series.And they certainly left me with a great
memory.

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Welcome,

Vintage Leaf Memories has evolved since its launch in September of 2009. VLM began as a site almost exclusively about my memories as a Maple Leaf fan growing up in Ontario in the 1950s and into the ‘60s and ‘70s. I was born in 1953, and it was a golden era to grow up a Leaf fan, given their tremendous success under Punch Imlach in the 1960s.

I hope that the site will continue to grow! Thanks to everyone for their feedback.